Didn't Have To Be
by Karmitara
Summary: SpiderMan AU: When a single mom goes out on a date with somebody new it always winds up feeling more like a job interview. My mama used to wonder if she'd ever meet someone who wouldn't find out about me and then turn around and run. Based on the song Didn't Have To Be by Brad Paisley
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Tony is going to be slightly OOC for this, but I'll try my best to make him as true to character as possible. This story was harder than I thought it would be...**

"I'm sorry, it's not going to work out between us," Peter heard the man say with no remorse over the phone. Just like that, another one was gone. What a shame, Peter liked that man.

Peter couldn't understand why so many men kept coming and going through his mom and his lives, staying for a little while before leaving. Coincidentally, they all left shortly after they learned about Peter's existence.

Peter climbed out of his bed and slowly walking into the small kitchen where his mother was just hanging the phone up and wiping her eyes. Peter frowned as he walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her legs.

"Peter?" Mary asked, her eyes wide as she looked down at her son, "What are you doing awake?"

"Don't cry, mommy... We'll find a daddy soon..."

Peter felt arms around him, lifting him into the air as his mother's lips pressed against the side of his head. "I know, baby... We'll get him soon."

Peter couldn't understand why he didn't have a daddy like all the other kids; he was always on his best behavior when a new man would come to the house and he would greet them just like his babysitter taught him too, so why didn't any of them want to stay? Why didn't any of them want to be his daddy? Was there something wrong with Peter?

Another year and many more men later, Peter saw his mother return home from work with a large smile on her face and humming a song to herself. It's been a long time since he's seen her smile like that...

She paid the babysitter, dismissing the teen before scooping Peter up in her arms and spinning him around. "Petey, Mommy's got a date tomorrow."

Peter's eyes widened, a smile making its way onto his face for her. He had given up hope on ever meeting his daddy, but he loved seeing his mommy happy about it.

"That's great!"

"I think you'll like him too, Peter." She had a teasing smile as she set him down on a barstool. "His name is Tony Stark."

Once again, the boy's eyes widened. He gasped up at his mother with awe and disbelief. Peter had heard stories about Mr. Stark through the TV and kids at school, Mr. Stark was a genius.

"No way..."

"Yes way. I met him last week while at work, he asked if he could take me to the movies tomorrow. Isn't this great? I know you've been wanting to meet him since you first heard about him."

Peter was practically vibrating in happiness at the thought of being in the same room as Tony Stark, not even daring to let his young mind hope for the man to be his daddy. But what if he found out about Peter and left like all the other men did? Peter really didn't want to think that his hero was just like all the others his mommy had dated... But he couldn't help but imagine it as a possibility.

He couldn't let that happen. Maybe if he wasn't around as much, or if he just didn't leave his room when the man was there? This time... this time he would make sure his mom would finally be happy.

"Peter, Tony is here! Come say hi!" Mary called to her son as Tony walked into their apartment.

Silence from the bedroom down the hall met their awaiting ears, Mary frowning slightly in concern.

"I'm sorry, Peter must be shy today." Mary apologized as she looked towards Peter's room where the boy was. "He was so excited to meet you yesterday, I wonder what happened."

"It's fine, no need to apologize. The kid might have just fallen asleep or something." Tony smiled at her, his eyes trailing after her as she walked to Peter's door.

"Peter, honey, are you awake still?" She knocked gently on his door before opening it and peeking inside. "Peter?"

His room was empty, Mary's heart lurching in her chest for a moment before a paper was slid from under his closet door towards her. She blinked as she lifted it, reading the messily written note from her son.

 _'Ill wait here 4 the siter. Go have fun.'_

"Peter, you're not even going to tell me goodbye?"

There was scratching from the closet before another note was slid out, Tony by the bedroom door now, watching the exchange.

 _'I dont want 2 ruin it this time.'_

Mary's eyes widened as she read what her son wrote, her heart breaking as she felt Tony walk up next to her and read over her shoulder.

"Peter..."

Tony's eyebrows furrowed as he read the note, taking notice of how well the spelling was for a five-year-old. What would the kid be messing up by coming out to greet him? A pang of guilt hit Tony as he remembered thinking about if only she didn't have a kid when he first met Mary, but that didn't last long as she was able to wrap him around her finger very easily and he took a shot. It seemed he'd be paying for that thought now...

The man walked over to the closet door and knelt by it, rapping his knuckles against it a few quick times. "Hey, kid. Why not come out so that we can get you ready to go? I love being fashionably late, but the theater doesn't share my beliefs."

Peter paused as he heard those words. What was he saying? Did he want Peter to go with them? Slowly, he peeked out of the closet, seeing Tony Stark smiling at him.

"There's the little guy. Come on, champ, let your mom dress you up so we can all go." Tony stood up, ruffling Peter's hair as he started to leave for the living room, leaving Mary and Peter to stare after him.

Tony quickly pulled out his phone, tapping away at it as fast as he could before the mother and son were done. What had he just done? Invite a kid to a movie date? Sure, he rented one of the theater rooms out for the day with all the movies lined up for Mary to pick, but now he'd have to have the technician put in all the kid-friendly ones and take out any R rated stuff.

"Tony," Mary started as she stepped out of the boy's room, "Are you sure about this?"

"What? You don't want him to come?"

"No! Nothing like that, I'm overjoyed that you even thought of it. But this is just something I didn't expect..."

Tony watched as her eyes turned glassy, a shine of wetness starting to cover them. Just add to that guilty feeling earlier. Prove that Tony Stark has emotions. Go right ahead.

"Don't worry about it, Mary. It'll be fun. It'll let me get to know the both of you." He waved his hand dismissively just as Peter came running out of his room with the largest smile any kid ever had.

"Do I really get to go too, Mr. Stark Sir?"

Tony blinked at the kid before trying to stifle a laugh. No child had ever addressed him so politely before. "Is it really so hard to believe I want you to come, kid?"

"None of the other guys liked it when I hung around much, so I normally stayed in my room with the sitter."

Pretending the kid didn't exist... Yeah, Tony really felt horrible.

"I normally like to pride myself in being different from others, so don't expect me to be the same as any guy you saw before." The man winked at the boy, who turned to look at his mother with the brightest eyes Tony had ever seen.

"Mommy, I get to come along too!"

"That's amazing, sweetie." She smiled at her son as she reached her arms out for him and lifted him, "What do you say to Tony?"

"Thank you so much, Mr. Stark!"

Tony couldn't help but smile and ruffle the child's hair. He hoped that he wasn't making a mistake...

Surprisingly, the trio had a great time at the movies and went to dinner afterward; Tony and Peter quickly forming some kind of weird bond that Tony thought was the weirdest thing ever but in a good way. While Tony had many different kinds of bonds with many different kinds of people, his new-formed bond with the Parker family was something he'd never experienced before.

He kinda liked it.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey there, kid," Tony smiled as Peter ran ahead of him and Mary, "don't go off too far."

The two barely heard the boy's excited reply as he jerked his head around to take in all the sights of Madison Square Garden on the night of the NBA playoffs. It was like a type of heaven for him.

"You didn't have to do this, Tony," Mary started, "We would have been happy just watching the game from the TV somewhere."

"Nonsense," Tony batted his hand. "I was going to get a ticket anyway, why not invite my two favorite people?"

Mary smiled at him, leaning up to kiss his cheek and reach her hand into his as they walked inside, Peter now firmly at her side.

Tony showed them to their seats on the front row before he left to get snacks that Peter would no doubt be asking for any second. The child was like an endless pit when it came to food, another thing Pepper said they had in common. Tony smiled at the thought as he waited in line for food, his right hand patting his jacket pocket to feel the weight that was there. Oh, God, what was he thinking?

After getting their food and walking back to their seats, Tony faltered slightly at the sight of Peter curled up on his mom's lap with large tears rolling down his cheeks. His heart stopped -for some strange reason- and he started to run back to them to see what was wrong, ready to completely destroy whoever made the boy cry - when he heard their conversation.

"But why can't he be?" Peter's words were muffled against Mary's chest as he clung to her for dear life.

"Sweetie," Mary sighed, rubbing his back, "we can't force him, that's a decision he has to make on his own."

"But Flash said-"

"Flash is a bully that just wants to hurt you and make you feel sad. He's jealous of you, that's why he said those things. And while no one truly knows what's inside a person's heart or why they do the things they do, I believe that Tony is here because he really wants to be, not because he just takes pity on us and wants to pass his free time. Do you think that's what Tony would do to us?"

The child shook his head slightly, Mary smiling down at him and brushing his hair back from his face as she pulled him away from her. "Good, now smile for me, please? I want to see my favorite little man smiling on this big day."

Peter smiled up at his mom before moving back to his seat on the bench, back to normal as he excitedly watched the famous basketball players around him as Tony took his chance and went back to them.

The weight in Tony's pocket grew heavier throughout the whole night, barely giving him a chance to concentrate on the game. Listening to Mary and Peter talk seemed to strengthen his resolve, harden it and keep him from backing out. After all, emotional attachments weren't something he really liked creating and he was about to permanently tie himself into two. What on earth was he thinking?

"Tony, are you okay?"

Tony blinked out of his thoughts, looking at the woman in front of him as they stood in her living room. "I'm sorry, come again?"

Mary frowned as she placed her hand on his arms and gently pushed him to sit down on the sofa. "Are you okay? You've been spacing out all day. Do you feel sick or anything? Should I get you some medicine?"

"N-No," Did he just stutter? "No, I'm fine, I've just been thinking about a lot of stuff lately."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Regret seemed to fill her face, "you're a CEO of a major company, of course you're busy. You've been spending so much time with Peter and I these last few months that I forgot all about your other responsibilities. You don't have to come over every other day if you don't need to, Tony, please take care of any other business you have that's more important."

Tony stared at her for a second before letting a chuckle out. He loved this woman so much...

"Alright then, if you insist," He pushed himself off of the sofa, standing in front of her. "There is one thing that's actually kind of important - just kinda, sorta - that I've been stuck up on for the last few days. Maybe you could even help me out with it? It does involve you in a way."

"Ah, well, sure. I don't know how much help I could be though."

"It's nothing major or anything, all you have to do is give me a yes or no answer."

She nodded slowly as she watched him from her seat, her eyes narrowed in confusion slightly. Those narrowed eyes grew wide as she saw him go down on one knee, his hand pulling a small black box from his pocket.

"Mary Fitzpatrick Parker, it's only been a few months now, and some people would think that that's too early but I've never listened to most people anyway, but I love you so much. I never thought that I would ever do something like this and Obadiah, Pepper, and Rhodey laughed at me when they saw me buy the ring and that was understandable because, hey, I'm me. Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, I'm supposed to stay as the most eligible bachelor for the rest of my life." He started to chuckle nervously as he realized he was going off course, "But I don't want that anymore. I don't know how you did it, but I want to be a family with you, you and Peter. I want you to have a husband and I want Peter to have a dad and I really hope that you'll let me fill both spots for you."

Mary was left speechless as she stared at Tony as he opened the box to reveal a diamond ring, not expecting any of these emotions to come from him, at least not without Pepper's help and notecards in front of him. And for him to even mention Peter in there... This was exactly the kind of man she had always dreamed of finding for her and Peter after Richard died.

She soon remembered that Tony was waiting for her answer and the silence between them was becoming awkward. She smiled as she nodded, kneeling down with him and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Yes, yes, of course I'll marry you!"

Tony let out a sigh of relief as he wrapped his arms around her as well, glad that his rambling didn't screw anything up. He was known for that after all...

"Great, we can go down to Las Vegas tonight and be back before the kid even knows we were gone," Tony grinned, chuckling as Mary shook her head with a smile.

"You may have some trouble with that plan of yours."

"And what would that be?"

Mary shot a look towards Peter's bedroom door, that was cracked ever so slightly with the outline of part of a face visible in the dark. Once he realized he was caught, Peter slammed the door shut and the sound of little feet running and jumping into his bed were heard.

"Well... At least now we don't have to think of a way to tell him about the news." Tony chuckled and looked back at Mary.

"I don't think he's going to go to sleep anytime soon, and his smile will most likely be plastered on his face for the rest of the year."

"And then some." He looked back to her, gently taking her soft hand in his calloused ones and slid the ring onto her finger. "Now, like it or not, you're stuck with me, Mary Stark."

She hummed as she leaned in and gently kissed his lips, "I think I like the sound of that. Mrs. Mary Stark."

"It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"A very nice ring," Mary looked at the diamonds that were scattered around the ring and chuckling at how extra it was. It was obvious that Tony was the one to pick this out, Pepper would never be able to pick out something so flashy -even while buying for her boss.

"Peter's watching us again, isn't he?" She looked up at Tony as he chuckled and nodded, starting to stand up.

"I'll go talk to him, he's no doubt excited as well now."

"More like ecstatic," Mary called after him as Tony shot her a smile and disappeared behind Peter's door.

"Hey, ki-" Tony was cut off by Peter slamming into his legs and nearly knocking him down.

"Thank you so much..."

Tony had to strain to hear what the boy said, the words muffled by his pants. A smile slowly crept onto his face as he worked his way down into a kneel - something much harder than expected with Peter hugging him so tightly. "You don't have to thank me, kid."

Peter didn't reply; he simply buried his face deep into Tony chest and refused to let go. Tony hesitated slightly before lifting him up and walking over to the boy's bed, laying them both down on it. Peter snuggled into the man, curling into a small ball against him as Tony wrapped his arms around the boy. He assumed that he would need to get used to affection like this, he was going to be a dad now.

That's definitely something he never thought he would say before.

But he didn't hate it.

 **A/N: Not much Tony/Peter Father/Son here, because I felt like I needed to put in some Mary/Tony. Next chapter will be better though, we get to see some Iron Dad! Woo Woo!**


	3. Chapter 3

**"Tony Stark - Found in Afgan"**

"Mommy...! Mommy, come see the TV!" Peter called, his eyes glued on the news report coming from the flatscreen.

"Peter, please don't yell in the house," The weary woman said as she walked into the living room with her son.

"But it's daddy!"

The tired expression of Mary changed instantly as she looked at the TV and saw a picture of Tony and the headline of him being found. Tears filled her eyes as she sat next to her son and pulled him closer to her.

"He's alive! Daddy's alive!" Peter couldn't stop his own tears from forming as he listened to the reporter inform the public that Tony Stark had been found alive and was being transported back to New York that very day.

The young boy blinked as a thought occurred to him, looking up at his mother, "Why didn't anyone tell us about this? Miss Pepper is really nice, so why didn't she tell us he was coming home?"

"I'm sure it's not her fault, sweetie. She must have a lot going on now and didn't have the time..." Mary patted his shoulder, but he shook his head and got off the sofa.

"How will we know where to meet him though? What airport is he coming to? What time will he be there? Will it be alright if I hug him? Does he even remember us? What if they did something really bad over there and he doesn't remember us?"

"Peter-"

"No! I don't wanna lose daddy again!"

Peter ran off to his room, his door slamming shut behind him. Mary sighed as she looked up at the TV again, watching her husband's picture. Peter just needed a little time to himself... he wouldn't accept her comfort at this time; this was something only Tony would be able to cure for Peter. But in his absence, a little quiet time for himself would do the trick.

"I don't think you're being very fair to your mother, Peter." Jarvis scolded lightly as Peter curled in on himself in the bed.

"I don't care..."

"Are you sure? Your mother is sad now."

Peter sat up immediately and looked towards the wall, "No! She can't be sad! I didn't want her to be sad!"

"She misses Mr. Stark as much as you do, and she is worried about him too. Running off like that isn't fair to her and her feelings."

Peter frowned, grabbing his pillow and hugging it close to him. "But... Why didn't anyone tell me about daddy?"

"Miss Potts didn't know until only recently and had to leave right after to pick him up. If it makes you feel any better, Mr. Stark is going to arrive here in ten minutes."

Peter's eyes widened as he jumped out of bed, "Really?"

"He is en route now."

Peter tossed the pillow back on the bed and ran out of the room, heading right for the stairwell. It would take a little less than ten minutes to reach the lobby if he ran down them from the floor they were on now.

Eight floors down, Peter was regretting his decision to run down the stairs. But he stuck to it for the hundred-something floors below him. Not his smartest move...

He slammed the lobby door open and ran out, his eyes searching frantically around the area before landing on the worn looking male surrounded by people just walking into the building.

"Daddy...!" His voice came out as a cracked whimper as he ran forward, stumbling in his exhaustion. But Tony heard it.

The man stopped and knelt down with his good arm opened, the people around him parting just in time for Peter to crash through and into Tony's warm chest. Peter cried as his body attempted to merge into Tony's, the older Stark's hand gently circling his back.

"Well, at least I know one person missed me." Tony chuckled into Peter's hair.

"I thought... I thought-" Peter sniffled, unable to finish his sentence. Tony's heart softened as he adjusted his arm to lift the boy into the air as he stood up, walking to the elevator and leaving the group of people behind.

"It's okay, kid. I'm home now."

"W-Welcome home..." Peter leaned his head on Tony's shoulder, his hands gripping his shirt as tightly as possible.

"Geez, why are you so out of breath? Did you run down the stairs or something?"

Peter's sheepish chuckle was answer enough as Tony gave an exasperated sigh with a roll of his eyes. This boy...

While Tony said that he was home now, Peter could tell that his mind was far away.

The child was normally only allowed in the labs under invitation only, so he wasn't hurt by any new weapons that Tony was thinking of. But now... Now, Tony spent days to weeks in his private labs without letting anyone in while he worked on something that he wouldn't talk about.

Peter tried sneaking in one time, but Jarvis ratted him out and Tony stepped out into the hall to escort him back to Mary. Peter felt himself growing angry at Tony as the man barely gave him some half-hearted excuse before rushing back to his lab.

And it just got worse. Tony distanced himself more and more from his family and focused on his work. Mary would try to comfort her son and defend her husband to him, saying that he would understand when he was older, but Peter wanted to understand it now. He wanted to know why his dad didn't give him attention anymore.

But then Iron Man made an appearance... It was just a small clip in the news, nothing that special or of concern, but Peter latched on to it. It was like a robot, a metal man, and that was so cool. He wanted to find out more, he wanted to meet the genius that created it and be just like them.

"Hey, Peter," Obadiah opened Peter's door, "Why don't we go out tonight? Just the two of us."

Peter looked up from his notebook, his eyes brightening and being distracted from his drawings of metal suits. "Really? Can we?"

"Of course. Come on, I'll help you put your shoes on." He walked into the room, quickly grabbing some shoes from the closet and putting them on Peter sloppily. Peter frowned slightly but didn't question it as he took Obadiah's hand and walked out with him.

"Uncle Obadiah, why are we going to the workshop?" Peter asked, his eyes scanning the parking lot for his uncle's car. He was promised ice cream and he knew for a fact that the workshop didn't have any.

"Be quiet, Peter. We're almost there." Obadiah tugged on the boy's small hand, almost sending him tumbling to the ground.

"I want to go back to my room now, Uncle Obadiah..." Peter started to slip his hand free before crying out as the man squeezed it too tightly, yanking him forward as they went inside the shop.

"I told you to be quiet!" He pulled out a chair and tossed Peter to it, "Now sit there and do what I say."

Peter's eyes went wide as he saw the large machine behind Obadiah, his small body shrinking away from it as he started to get out of the chair. That was like a larger and scarier version of the iron man.

"I said to stay right there, Peter. Don't make me hurt you."

Peter didn't know what to do. He didn't know why his uncle was acting like this or where his parents were to save him. He wanted his dad to save him... Why wasn't his dad there to save him? Why was Mr. Stark always so busy now? Did he no longer love him? Did he do something wrong? Did Peter annoy him so much that he no longer wanted to spend time with him? He just wanted to be a good son and have a good dad, so why couldn't he?

"Stop whining, kid," Obidiah groaned out. "It's annoying."

"I want my mom and dad...!"

"If you don't stop crying now, I'll give you something to cry about!"

Peter let out a wail as he brought his knees up to his chest, ignoring the threats that the old man was giving him. It wasn't until a loud whirling noise started that Peter looked up, seeing the large metal suit powering up. Peter jumped out of his chair and took off running to the door, his cries being drowned out by the sound of the Iron Monger chasing after him.

Peter made it out of the workshop and into the parking lot, looking around for any sort of help. If he could make it back to the tower, then he might be able to find one of his parents and they would make everything okay.

Before he could start on his new direction, a heavy fist hit the ground and sent Peter's little legs out from under him. His face hit the cement and his vision went white for a moment as he tried to figure out what just happened.

"I told you I would give you something to cry about..."

"Uncle Obidiah..." Peter whimpered as he crawled backward, trying to get away from the monster without taking his eyes off of him. "Uncle Obidiah, please..."

"I'm really sorry to have to do this, Peter." His voice didn't sound sorry at all, "But it's time for you to go to sleep now."

He lifted his fist in the air right above Peter; the boy curled up and tensed, waiting for the blow. But instead of the painful sound of metal squashing flesh, Peter heard metal hitting metal. He opened his eyes and saw a smaller suit of armor standing a little ways from him, the Iron Monger skidding across the street.

"Touch one hair on my kid and I will rip you apart with my bare hands."

Peter's eyes widened at his hero, taking in the gold and red and instantly filling with admiration that blocked out the words that were just spoken about him.

It wasn't long before Mary found Peter and took him away with her to a safer place while the two metal men fought. She had to drag her son away from the fight and then listen as the boy talked on and on about the two minutes he was saved. Mary let out a small chuckle. If only the boy knew the truth... He'd find out soon though, Tony promised to tell him after this was all over.

Peter managed to escape his mom to see the Iron Man again after the fight, his suit busted up badly and sparking in some places. Peter ran up to him with concerned eyes.

"Are you alright, Mr. Iron Man?"

"Just fine, kid." He knelt down to Peter's level and started to reach up to his faceplate, but he froze at Peter's next words.

"I wish my dad was like you!" The sparkles in Peter's eyes were something that Tony hadn't seen in a long time, something that tugged on his heartstrings.

"Now, I'm sure your dad is cool. He's Tony Stark, after all, can't get any cooler than that." Iron Man gently placed his hand on Peter's shoulder, but Peter shook his head.

"I don't think Mr. Stark loves me anymore... He never hangs out with me, he never has time for me but still let's mommy in the labs with him."

Tony was at a loss for words -that always seemed to happen around this kid- as he stared at Peter and struggled for an explanation. Did the kid always call him Mr. Stark when he was around strangers?

"Peter-"

"Peter, there you are!"

The two men looked up just as Mary, Pepper, and Rhodey came running out to them; Mary had tears in her eyes as she grabbed her son and checked him over.

"Peter, I told you to stay with me! Why did you run off? You scared me so badly, you could have been hurt!"

"But it's Iron Man! He'll protect us!"

Mary glanced at Tony in confusion as she picked Peter up in her arms. He hadn't told him yet? "Baby, that's-"

"Absolutely right." Agent Coulson walked up to them with that careful smile, "Iron Man is a hero. But he needs to go now, if you'll excuse us."

Mary gave a slow nod as she took Peter back inside, the boy smiling and waving to Iron Man all the way.

"What the hell was that?" Rhodey asked, turning to Phil. "Why wouldn't you let her tell the kid about Tony?"

"He's a child, do you really think that he'll keep the secret that Mr. Stark is Iron Man? He will be so excited and tell virtually everyone that he can. It's not safe now, but you can tell him when he's older and able to keep secrets." Phil looked into the lenses of Tony's suit, "Do it for your family, Mr. Stark. They'll be in danger if anyone knows about you."

"I think I'd be able to protect my family just fine, I do have a billion dollar metal suit that can fly and shoot things after all." Tony gestured up to Stark Tower, "Plus, state of the art security that I designed myself."

"It's better for everyone if you just keep it a secret."

Tony just gave him a look but said nothing, Phil taking it as a sign of defeat.

He was wrong.

He was so wrong; Tony isn't defeated easily.

 **A/N: I have the bad habit of randomly switching from dialog to no dialog in the middle of stories, sorry 'bout that... I kinda like the idea of Peter calling Tony 'Mr. Stark' when he's mad at him, though... or when he's just being sassy.**

 **Voting time: do you think I should include a few more MCU movies in here, or skip right over to Spider-Son time?**


	4. Chapter 4

Tony felt like he was ready to call it a day, ready to go back home to his beautiful wife and child and just hold them both as he drifted off into sleep. But he couldn't do that, he couldn't ever just call it a day when it came to his job. The moment that he even thought of creating the suits, he knew that he'd never be able to just throw in the towel.

The world -his family- needed Iron Man now, he didn't have time to be thinking of what Tony wanted. Tony just wanted to teach his son how to work in his labs; his ten-year-old son was a little genius that was already working on projects that Tony started when he was older. He wanted to see his son look up at him when he put his suit on, with those sparks of excitement and happiness and pride that no one had ever turned his way before. But in order to see that look on his son again, he needed to finish his job first.

"He made it personal."

"That's not the point-"

"That is the point," Tony waved his hand around as he thought, pushing off of the railing he was leaning against, "That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?"

"To tear us apart?" Steve shrugged as he turned and watched as Tony passed by him.

"Yeah, divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right?" The genius scratched the side of his head, his eyes darting around. "That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

Steve nodded, "Right. I caught his act in Stuttgart."

"Yeah, but that's just the preview. This is opening night." Tony had a small smile as he dove into the mind of their enemy, his analytic mind whirling, "And Loki, he's a full-tilt diva, right? He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered..." He trailed off, his analysis starting to sound very familiar.

Tony looked at Steve, his excited smile turning into a frown. "Son of a bitch."

"Has anyone seen Peter?" Mary asked as she quickly ran through the living areas, frantically asking anyone she passed for her son.

Tony had called a few minutes ago to evacuate everyone, telling them that Loki would be headed their way and that the tower would probably be very dangerous for a while. But through the chaos of the announcement, Mary lost Peter.

"Peter! Peter, where are you?" Tears started to build in Mary's eyes as she entered the last room and didn't see her son anywhere.

"Peter doesn't appear to be in the building, Miss Mary. I cannot find his signature anywhere." Jarvis spoke up, a hint of worry lacing through his professional voice.

"Then where is he? Traceback through all security feeds until you find him!" She pressed her back against the wall and placed a hand against her heart that was trying to beat out of her chest. Where was her son?

"There is a device on the roof that is impairing my servers, I am unable to access the video files."

"On the roof...?" Mary's eyes drifted upward to the ceiling before taking off to the stairs, kicking her heels off along the way as she raced to the roof, praying that her son was and wasn't there at the same time.

Once up there, Mary saw an older man crouching around the device that Jarvis was probably talking about. To the man's right was another male, much scarier looking than the first. But Mary's eyes caught sight of the small boy on the other side of the elder...

"Peter!"

The boy looked up at his mom, smiling brightly as he waved at her. "Mom, come look at this! It's amazing!"

"Peter, get away from there!" Mary raced forward, panic filling her as the evil man -Loki, she assumed- looked up at her and smirked. She was suddenly being restrained, pressed back against a hard chest.

"Mom?" Peter started to stand up, his face filling with confusion as he saw Mr. King Loki holding his mom. "What's going on?"

"Don't worry about it, young Peter," Loki smiled at him, "just keep helping Erik. Your mother and I just need to talk."

Peter watched as fear flashed across his mother's face, his interest in the technology next to him no longer holding his attention. Peter had to protect his mom, either from loneliness while his dad was away or from strange men that appeared on his roof, he would protect her like he promised his dad. And right now, his mother needed protecting.

"Let her go."

Loki sighed as he shook his head slightly. "This is horrible. Everything was going just fine until you came," He looked at Mary before letting her go and walking back to Peter. "Now I'm going to have to kill him and it's all your fault."

"What?"

"Mr. Loki?"

Peter started to back away from the approaching man as he lifted his scepter, stumbling a bit as he tripped over the wires he was obsessing over minutes ago.

"I'm really sorry to have to do this, kid." Loki shrugged as he aimed at Peter, "But I have to do this now."

In the distance, the sound of something very familiar caught the attention of Peter's ears. A small bubble of bravery grew in him as he glanced back at the edge of the roof and proceeded to jump over it.

He could hear his mother screaming his name from her place on the solid surface, and the very audible gasp from Loki as he fell, but he wasn't scared. He knew that he'd be saved. He was always saved and with his dad so close now, there was no doubt in his mind.

"Peter!" The call of his name came right before strong, metal arms wrapped around him. "Are you okay? What were you thinking? Are you insane? Why did you jump off the freaking roof?"

Peter looked up at his dad, his proud smile turning into a frown as he took in the dents and scrapes on the suit. "Are you okay, dad? You look hurt!"

Peter could faintly hear the exasperated sigh leave his father. "You're the one that jumps off a roof and you ask if I'm alright..."

Tony flew back up to where the small group was and picked Mary up as he flew off to a safer place for them. "I thought I gave you a fair enough warning to get away from the tower? How come you're both still there?"

"Your son was playing with the enemies and their fancy technology."

"Peter, we're the good guys!" Tony chuckled, though his heart was in his throat at the idea of Loki anywhere near his kid. "We aren't supposed to fraternize with the enemy except to kick his a- butt!"

"But I know how to turn that machine off!"

Tony blinked as he looked down at the kid. He knew that he was smart, but could he really be this much of a little genius? Was he playing with Loki just to get info on the Tesseract? There was no way...

"Mr. Loki's stick can go through the barrier around the machine and turn it off!"

Tony set his wife and son down on the outside of the city, placing a hand gently on Peter's head. "That's my boy. I'll be back soon, stay safe over here."

"Go get 'em, dad!" Peter yelled as Tony took off, the man smiling as he left. When his son cheered for him and had such a strong belief in him, there was no way he could disappoint him by failing. And they now knew how to turn the machine off, so that would probably make things so much easier for them. Soon, everything would be back to normal again.

Tony spotted Loki still on the roof of the tower, a smirk on his lips as he started walking inside. Oh, he would enjoy taking this guy down.

 **A/N: Does it seem like there's not enough IronDad and son going on here? This chapter kind of annoys me... I feel like my chapters are stretching away from the family genre that I wanted... I'm probably going to fix this one soon...**

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The Avengers sat in the small food joint, Thor and Bruce the only ones that were really eating despite the amazing smell that was coming from the food in front of everyone. Tony slowly chewed his shawarma as his mind was still catching up with the fact that they actually fought aliens and survived. It could have been a whole other story if it hadn't been for Peter telling them about Loki's scepter being the key to turning the machine off and closing the wormhole.

"Dad...!"

Speak of the devil...

"Peter?" Tony sat up a little straighter as he searched the area for the owner of the voice. Just as he saw the mop of brown hair flying at him, two thin arms wrapped around his side and a face was buried just below his armpit. "Oh kid, trust me, you don't want your face anywhere near there. Where's your mother?"

Peter ignored him, holding on even tighter. Tony sighed as he took a breath in and lifted the child up to sit on his lap, wincing in pain slightly but doing his best to cover it up in order to comfort his son.

"I'm so glad you're alive..."

Tony wrapped his arms around Peter and held him closely, ignoring the looks he was getting from some of the Avengers.

"It's okay, kid. I'm alive, I'm here..."

"You could have died..."

"But I didn't." Tony pulled Peter back slightly, placing a hand under his chin and lifting his face up to look into his eyes. "I didn't die, I'm right here with you. Everything's going to be okay now. Okay?"

Peter nodded slightly as he leaned forward and rested his head against Tony's chest again, Tony gently patting his back while whispering comfort to him.

Tony had seen videos of soldiers who came home to their crying kids, he'd heard how hard it was to keep doing a dangerous job when their family would cry and beg them not to, but Tony never expected the strong emotions that coursed through him as he held Peter's crying form. The child didn't beg him to stop fighting powerful aliens or to give up being Iron Man, but Tony never wanted his son to cry so hard again that he was almost ready to swear off superhero-ing right then and there.

Until Barton opened his big mouth.

"Damn, I knew you had a kid, but I never expected you to act like that around him."

Peter seemed to finally notice the others at the table, his eyes going wide as he saw all of the Avengers sitting near his dad. His eyes locked on a blond man on the other side of the table that looked like he was about to fall asleep but offered him a kind smile.

"Oh my, God, you're Captain America! We were just talking about you in history yesterday! It's so awesome to meet you!" His eyes seemed to be drawn to the other end of the table before they lit up even more. "Dr. Banner, sir? Is that really you? I've read some of your books! I'm a huge fan!"

Bruce blinked as his mind registered the sudden change in demeanor of the child, taking in the new info. "Um, how old are you?"

"Almost eleven!"

"And you've read my books?"

Peter nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah! I loved the one on nuclear physics!"

"Wait," Tony frowned as he looked at Peter, "Hold on. You've never been this excited around me before. I'm supposed to be your favorite Avenger."

"But, dad," Peter looked up at the man with a smile, "It's Bruce Banner! And Captain America, and Mr. Thor, and Mis- Miss Natalie?" Peter quirked an eyebrow at Natalie from Legal, taking in how much her appearance had changed. She didn't look like she did the last time he saw her at the Stark Expo...

"Okay, I think that's enough for today." Tony started to stand up, lifting Peter up on his shoulder. "Where's your mother at?"

"I don't know, I didn't get on the boat with her."

"Peter...!"


	5. Chapter 5

When Peter found out that his dad was Iron Man at the press conference, he went through a whirlwind of emotions. He was so excited that his hero really was his dad, and he was relieved that he wasn't bored of Peter and was just spending all his time working on his suits( that Peter had then gotten to see), but he was also embarrassed that he revealed his thoughts to him, and the guilt of being so selfish and wanting attention instead of letting his dad work...

It was hard at times, having Iron Man as his dad. Peter and Mary were targeted by criminals now, but Peter didn't care much about them... When he saw Tony suffer from anxiety attacks or come close to dying, those were the parts that he hated about having a superhero dad. Peter could live the rest of his life in captivity by insane scientists; but when he watched his dad suffer on the TV or sleepless nights, Peter couldn't handle it.

There was a part of Tony's workshop that always made Peter smile and bring back the pure childhood memories he used to have about Iron Man. Tony had a whole corner dedicated to Peter's childhood drawings of Iron Man and some of the other Avengers. Peter sometimes caught Tony there when his work became too much, and it made the young teen happy to know that something from his past could help his dad.

But while Peter was excited that his dad was Iron Man when he was a child, he had a feeling that Tony wouldn't feel the same about his son being Spider-Man. Best not to tell him about his little... _hobby_ just yet.

He'd probably regret that decision in the future.

When Peter found out that he was now enhanced -thanks to his little spider friend- he was so excited to tell his parents. He was a superhero now, he could be just like his dad! He wanted his parents to be proud of him. But then he realized... his dad was going to kill him. What parent in their right minds would let a fourteen-year-old kid save the city? Not to mention that Peter hadn't stayed with his group on the field trip to Oscorp like he promised... They were going to be so mad at him and ground him for life and there would be no way he'd be able to be a superhero after that.

Peter had been swinging around the city for a few months when he heard his parents talking about 'him'. He stood in the hall, listening to them with his enhanced hearing -though he didn't really need it, Tony was talking pretty loud.

"It's so _weird_...!" Tony yelled in excitement, waving his hands around, "He just showed up out of nowhere in these pajama things and caught the car with his bare hands!"

Mary chuckled at her husband as she poured him a pot of coffee. "Are you thinking of recruiting him for the Avengers?"

Peter felt his heart jump. Was his dad going to offer him a job? Was he going to be an Avenger? That would be so awesome! He wanted to meet them all so badly -they were never around Tony's private living space when they came to the tower and Tony never took Peter with him when it was training time. Something about Tony not wanting Peter to pick another favorite Avenger aside from him. Peter had only met Rhodey (the man had dinner with them every week) and Bruce Banner before (an embarrassing but amazing day), but he would die if he got to hang out with Captain America and Black Widow and Thor and Vision and basically everyone. His friends called him a fanboy... Peter couldn't disagree.

"Tracking him has been a little hard since he just appears and disappears from different areas, but I think I had a breakthrough," Tony held his cup in his hand but didn't drink from it as he spoke. "I noticed that he's only active in the afternoon and early night. No one's ever seen him in the morning, which means he probably has a job or something in his normal life. I'm thinking of putting a tracking device on him next time I see him and-"

That heart Peter felt jump earlier? Yeah, that heart was now frozen. Tony was going to put a tracker on Spider-Man and follow him? He's dead. He's _so_ dead. Mom and dad were going to take turns murdering him.

"If he's wearing that mask and hasn't made a public announcement of his identity yet, I don't think you should be the one to reveal it."

His mother was a life saver.

"I'm not going to reveal his identity, just going to find him and offer him a job."

"Tony..."

"Alright, alright," Tony laughed lightly, "I won't find him in his personal life."

Peter let out a sigh of relief as he continued on his way, but he knew that he would still need to keep his guard up now. Tony was not one to give up easily.

And he was right. Not a week later, he found himself being stalked by his own dad through the city. Iron Man was trying his best to sneak behind Spider-Man without being seen - but he was failing thanks to Peter's spidey-sense. The boy kept calling out to Iron Man, who would wave before taking off in the other direction. Peter found that kind of hilarious.

Peter enjoyed his little volunteer work after school, he loved helping the people and the little old ladies that would try to give him money but just buy him a snack when he refused. He loved watching the news reporters saying that crime in the city was dropping ever since he started 'working'. It was rewarding.

He wondered if his dad felt this way as well. Tony had millions of screaming fans, and he did love the attention it seemed... So Peter would have to guess that it was a yes. Which meant that he was almost just like his dad (kind of (not really))!

Peter smiled happily to himself as he swung to another building, his senses zeroing in on Iron Man hiding behind him somewhere. He decided that he wouldn't call the man out just yet, what harm could he cause by simply stalking Peter? It would give him a chance to see how responsible he was and when the time was right and Peter decided to tell his parents about Spider-Man, Tony could remember this moment and think about how great Peter was at- Oh man!

Peter barely dodged the bullet that was aimed at his head, latching himself onto the side of a building and looking at the parking garage across the street. His eyes saw movement on the top levels as groups of men started laughing as they fired more guns at him. Peter gulped, his fourteen-year-old mind struggling with how to handle this situation. He's dealt with robbers and muggers before, but he's always had the benefit of surprise - and the guns hardly ever went off.

Peter quickly climbed up the building to the roof, bracing his feet on the edge before kicking off and jumping across the gap. He landed on the side of the garage, shooting a web at one of the drunk men and leaving them stuck to a nearby car as he started to take out the rest of the group.

They were all drunk convicts that Peter had sent to prison at some point in time - all brought together in this weird form out criminal friendship by their mutual hatred of Spider-Man. See? Spider-Man even let people make friends. He was such a great person.

It was a sloppy move, Peter honestly knew better... but he was showing off for his dad -who was no longer attempting to hide as he watched the fight- and forgot to check that all of them were secured. He was climbing up on the small concrete wall and about to greet Iron Man when the gunshot rang out.

Peter's eyes widened as he looked back at the man with his left hand loose and waving the gun around, quickly shooting another web at him. He could see the police cars on the street below, he knew that he needed to get away now instead of checking himself over.

He shot a web out to the nearest building and jumped off the side of the garage, doing his best to ignore the sharp pain that radiated through his side. The bullet was still inside him, oh God he could feel it...!

He latched on to the glass windows of the building and climbed to the roof, scrambling to the shaded area by the vents. He pressed back against the tin and took a deep breath, twisting to get a look at the wound in his back. Oh, that's not going to be fun to get out...

Peter bit down on the inside of the mask as he stuck his fingers into the hole, his breathing ragged as his finger brushed against the bullet.

"I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to do it like that."

Just _great_...

Peter looked up to see Tony landing on the roof with him, his faceplate lifting up to get a better look at Spider-Man. He knelt down next to him and gently moved Peter's hands away, the boy groaning in pain as he was forced to let the bullet go.

"I've got a med-bay at the Stark Tower, you're welcomed there if you want."

"N-No thanks," Peter coughed a bit and tried to deepen his voice. "I've got super healing, I just need to get the bullet out and everything will be all better."

Tony quirked an eyebrow at the obviously fake voice but didn't say anything to it. "No one will give away your identity if that's what you're worried about. I have to say, I'm pretty curious as to who you are. C'mon, just one little peek won't hurt, will it?"

Yes, it will...

Peter ignored him as he stuck two fingers back into the wound, firmly gripping it and beginning to pull it out.

A wave of cold washed over Peter, his body shaking as he felt the color start to drain from his face. Not good... His vision swam as he sucked in a breath and clamped his free hand over his mouth, praying that he wouldn't throw up in his suit. He really wished that his dad would go away now so Peter could deal with this on his own and away from prying eyes.

Nope. Nope, Iron Man was curious and he was going to stay right there and oh _God_ Peter was going to throw up.

It was a split second decision: Peter would rather take his chances with his dad that get a faceful of vomit.

He turned away from Tony's confused expression and ripped his mask off, hurling his guts out against the wall. The shock that was taking over from the gunshot was doing nothing to stop the craziness in him, and each heave that wracked his body tugged against his wound.

When he finally got everything under control, he took in a shaky breath and wiped his sleeve against his mouth. Note to self: don't get shot again.

"No..."

Peter snapped his head up, seeing Tony hold his mask in a clenched fist with the angriest look Peter had ever seen on his face -that's saying a lot for the boy that was held hostage on almost a weekly basis.

"Dad-"

"Not you!"

Peter flinched at the harsh yell and the slap of his mask hitting the concrete. He closed his eyes tightly as Tony's heavy breathing filled in the silence, swallowing down the lump in his throat. Could this day get any worse?

The sound of a motor filled the air, the universe seeming to answer Peter specifically as a news helicopter appeared over the edge of the building with a big, ugly camera aimed right at them. Peter quickly reached out for his mask and put it on, standing up and starting to stumble his way away from the camera.

The pain shot through him as he cried out and nearly faceplanted right back into the ground if it hadn't been for Iron Man wrapping his arm around him and carrying him off to somewhere more private. As they flew, Tony wrapped his other arm under Peter's legs and carried him princess style -Peter felt as if this was part of his punishment because Tony _knew_ how much he hated being carried like this.

The whole trip to the tower was in complete silence, Peter knowing that he was really going to get it with every passing second. When they landed on the roof entrance, Tony stayed in his suit and only confirmed Peter's thoughts. If this bullet didn't kill him, then his dad would.

Peter was rushed into the med-bay where Bruce was working, Tony calling to him as he placed Peter on a bed.

"Hey, it's Spider-Man," Bruce smiled at the boy as he walked over, "What are you doing over here? Tony talk you into joining the Avengers?"

Tony's faceplate lifted as he fixed his hard gaze on Peter, reaching out and tugging the boy's mask off none-too-gently.

"Peter?" Bruce tilted his head slightly as he looked between the father and son, his eyebrows drawn together as he pieced together the information before a look of realization hit him. "Oh... _Oh_ man... um..."

"Bruce, I need you to look at his side. The idiotic tendencies of this child got him shot, and the even more stupid mind of his wanted to pull the bullet out with his own damn fingers."

Peter flinched at the bite in his dad's voice, his head hanging low as he listened to Dr. Banner hum softly in acknowledgment. The doctor set to work with removing the bullet, the room falling into an uncomfortable silence that was only interrupted by the occasional grunt and whimper of pain from Peter.

It took a short while for Bruce to get the bullet out and stitch Peter up -the boy getting himself in even more trouble when he tried to say that he didn't need stitches and would just let himself heal naturally. Once all medical help was finished with, Bruce excused himself with a light pat on Peter's shoulder as the room went back into silence once again.

Neither superhero said anything for a while, neither wanting to be the first to talk. What could one even say during such a moment? There wasn't a handbook or anything for the topic 'I Just Found Out My Son Is A Superhero - Now What', was there? Tony should write a book like that... It could be a huge hit.

Though Tony might not be the best example to follow when it came to parenting...

"Dad...? I-"

"Nope, me first." Tony held up his hand, cutting Peter off as he took a deep breath. "Why? I just gotta know why you're doing this. Is it because you aren't getting enough attention here at home? Are you trying to prove yourself to me or the other Avengers? What made you put that suit on and try to stop crime all by yourself? That's not even a real suit, that's just pajamas!"

Peter frowned as he shook his head, "No, no, it's not like that at all." He stood up from the bed and faced his father fully, "I just wanted to be like you. When I realized what I could do, I knew immediately that I wanted to be a hero like you."

Tony's eyes widened slightly as he took a step back, processing the fact that his child became a hero just to be like him. "C-Couldn't you have waited, or... something? You know, until you're a legal adult?"

"I didn't _plan_ for any of this to happen...!" Peter looked down, embarrassed by his little outburst as he realized that his dad didn't know how he got his powers. "It's not the suit that lets me do these things..."

Tony's eyebrows shot up, "You're enhanced?"

"Yeah... I was bitten by a radioactive spider and everything just started changing... I was planning on telling you at first, I swear, but I knew that you and mom would freak and I just wanted to show that I was good enough to be a hero and join the Avengers when the time was right."

"Peter, you're fourteen-"

"Just because I'm young doesn't mean I can't make a difference! The crime rate in Queens has gone down so much now that I'm helping out! And it's not always as dangerous as it was today; today was just a freak thing! It's normally really slow and I'm just stopping petty crimes like robbers and things! I'm hardly ever shot at or stabbed!"

"You've been stabbed before?"

Peter froze slightly as he realized he shouldn't have said that... He decided it would be better to just change course a bit. "Am I grounded?"

"Kid, you are so grounded for the rest of eternity. But let's let your mother decide the rest out for us." Tony smiled and patted his shoulder, Peter's face paling at the thought of what his mother would do to him.

"I'm going to die before I can even finish high school..."

"Hey," Tony held his hands up in surrender, "You're the one that thought it would be a good idea to hide this from us. This is all on you."

 **A/N: Wow, what is this madness? Two chapters in the same day? Inconceivable! But I needed to get this chapter out so that I can work on the next, because I'm going to need happiness and fluffiness in my life again very soon... You'll find out why in the next chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6

Peter was in so much trouble after Tony told Mary about the boy's little 'side job'. He'd never really seen his mother get too angry at him before, not since he was a child and ditched her after the Battle of New York. He tried to stay on his parents' good side after that... They were surprisingly terrifying when they wanted to be.

He was grounded for eternity as his dad put it, never to leave their mansion again. Of course though, try as he might, he couldn't obey his parents and continued his Spider-Manning. Yeah... not really his best idea as Iron Man would always chase him across the city while threatening to put steel bars across his widow...

He did.

Peter liked to pretend (for no real reason other than just pure boredom) he was in a prison cell whenever he looked outside. A very nice prison cell with wifi and a soft bed. But he continued to find ways to sneak out because the city needed him - they needed Spider-Man. His parents just couldn't seem to get that. And because of their stubbornness, he kept getting deeper and deeper into trouble with them.

And then the Accords were brought up.

There was something different about Tony - it was so obvious that a blind man could see it. Peter couldn't place it, he couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, but he was betting it had something to do with Sakovia. All of the Avengers' problems seemed to be stemming from that as of late.

Peter watched from the doorway as his dad sat with a bottle of alcohol at the kitchen island, a discarded whiskey glass next to him. The man only drank like that when he was really upset... Peter learned to stay away from him when he was like that - not that he was abusive, just very bitter and reclusive. Peter hated seeing Tony like that. He turned to start walking away just before a voice called out to him.

"Peter?"

Peter grimaced at being caught, normally he was more sneaky than that... He turned back and stepped into the room. "Yeah?"

Tony nodded to the seat next to him, putting the lid back on the bottle and sliding it away. "Come sit with me, let's have a little chat."

Peter raised an eyebrow, unsure of himself and Tony's motives as he slowly made his way forward to the chair.

"You know what happened in Sokovia, right, Peter?" Tony asked, not looking up from his hands that were clasped together on the table.

"Yeah, Ultron raised the city up and was planning on eradicating pretty much all life forms, like the meteorite and the dinosaurs."

Tony nodded as he took in a breath, "And who created Ultron?"

Peter hesitated slightly. His dad was the king of self-blame, if Peter answered this question aloud, it could make him feel worse.

"Who created Ultron, Peter?"

"...You did." Peter swallowed thickly, "But you were doing it with good intentions, you just wanted to-"

"It could have been prevented if I had just thought about it a little more... If I hadn't been so greedy for 'world peace'. So many people died that day - so many that we couldn't save. So many innocent people that would be alive right now if it hadn't been for me."

"It's not your fault!" Peter blurted out, facing his dad. "You just wanted to be at home with mom and me! You wanted us to be safe and you wanted to live with us happily without having to be always on call for work! It's not your fault that you wanted to end the Avengers and live a peaceful life!"

Tony stared at the kid, not expecting his small outburst at all. Peter was normally not so assertive when he spoke... It was a surprising -but refreshing- change.

"Thanks, kid." Tony smiled, reaching over to ruffle Peter's hair. "I appreciate the thought."

"It's not thoughts, it's facts."

"Whatever." Tony rolled his eyes as he chuckled. "The point I'm trying to get to here, kid, is that I messed up. I know I did. And these Accords... they're going to make sure that I don't mess up again- that none of us mess up again. The others just can't see that yet..." The man sighed as he rubbed his temple, "I don't expect you to understand what any of this is for yet, but these Accords are meant to help us."

"They're to keep you responsible, right?"

Tony looked at the boy and nodded.

"It keeps you from leaving the scene right after, it makes sure that the mess isn't bigger than it should be." Peter looked down at his hands. "That's what I did when Spider-Man helps out a big event; a fire, armed robbery, car crash, I stay nearby in case they need me again. And once everyone's signed the Accords, they can be altered later on, amendments and things like that to improve them. It's basically like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution."

The man nodded once again as he listened to his son, seeing a new way he could argue this with Steve before the soldier did something stupid.

Like starting a civil war.

Turns out that Cap really was stupid and started a civil war. Tony felt like the man could have handled the situation better... Though putting the kill order out on Bucky probably wasn't the best choice either. There were so many ways that this could have all been improved, so many things that could have been easier and better than what they all did.

When they all met at the airport in Berlin, Tony felt a bubble of anger start within him. Rogers was going to tear them all apart-

What was that blur of red and blue that just went after Bucky and Sam?

"Hey, what's Spider-Man doing here?" Natasha asked through the comms. "Did you bring us a gift, Stark?"

"Are you sure that was Spider-Man?" Tony's voice was clipped as he took in a deep breath, knowing that it probably -definitely- was Peter.

"Yeah, there's no mistaking that onesie," Rhodey chuckled as he flew past.

Tony cursed silently; after all this time, Peter was going to fight against the rouge Avengers? They didn't know it was him behind that stupid mask, they wouldn't go easy on him! How did he even get to Berlin?

"Excuse me a minute... I'll be right back." Tony flew to where Peter had run off to, his mind reeling of everything he was going to yell at the kid. Of all the idiotic things he had done, this took the cake.

"You have a metal arm? That's _so cool_!" Peter commented as he caught Bucky's arm, a streak of panic hitting Tony's heart. Peter was going to die while fanboying over Bucky's arm. That's great. Just _lovely_. Mary was going to kill them both...

Before Tony could interfere with the fight, Peter was completely destroying the two men. The genius' eyes widened as he watched his son fight off two trained combatants at the same time and able to handle them. He almost jumped in as Bucky threw a vending machine at Peter, but ended up laughing as the boy caught it and threw it right back. The look on Bucky's face during this fight was priceless, Tony wished he could take a picture of it as his son totally kicked butt.

With one final glance at the fight, Tony decided that he could handle himself and left the kid alone. Everything would be fine, Peter was strong and -as much as Tony hated to admit it- had proven many times as Spider-Man that he could take care of himself. Tony would just have to accept that his son was a superhero now and learn to live with it.

"Spider-Man is on our side, don't fire at him," Tony informed the team as he flew back into the heat of battle, listening as they all acknowledged him.

Everything was going great. Peter mostly stuck to outside of the fight and would toss a web in now and then, he was a major help that not a lot of people wanted to admit to. Tony kept his eye on Peter but noticed that the boy did a pretty good job on his own and didn't need any form of help from the others.

Watching him fight, Tony felt something familiar swell in his chest. It was the same feeling from when Peter would bring home his report card that had nothing but A-pluses, or when Peter spent a whole decathlon tournament getting every question right... Pride. That feeling was pride. Tony was proud of Peter being able to fight against the Avengers without any kind of formal training. What would he be able to do with training? Tony would have to start letting the kid branch out again into his superhero life, under Tony's guidance of course.

Tony smiled a bit to himself as he flew off to Wanda and Clint. His kid was pretty good.

"Boss, the scanner picked up something wrong with Peter vitals." Friday chimed a few seconds later, causing Tony to freeze in front of the pair.

"What?" Tony's head turned to where he last saw Peter.

"Stark?" Clint asked, his arrow aimed at the metal man in front of him.

"Where is he?" Tony started flying over to where Friday's scanner indicated. "Is he alright?"

"He seems to have taken a hit and hasn't gotten up yet," Her voice sounded worried as Tony rounded the corner, his heart stopping in his chest.

" _Peter_!"

The cry was loud enough to freeze all the fighters from either side, each one shaken to the core at Tony's utter terror shining through his voice. Nat frowned in confusion as she started to make her way to where Tony's voice came from, she could hear her teammates questioning him through their comms, but her mind was reeling. Peter was the name of Tony's son... why would Tony yell out to Peter? There was no reason why he would- unless...

Natasha's eyes widened as she suddenly realized why Tony's son was there and ran faster. It was so obvious, why hadn't she realized it sooner? Everything lined up perfectly; the time when Tony was upset over something Peter did, the sudden lack of activity from Spider-Man, how Spider-Man knew that they were all going to be fighting here without any contact from Tony, why Tony seemed so annoyed when they mentioned Spider-Man appearing or the hint of pride in his voice when he said that they were on the same side.

The woman stopped as she saw Tony kneeling next to Spider-Man, his mask lying uselessly on the ground to show the face of a fourteen-year-old boy that seemed to be unconscious. Natasha hated being right all the time.

She and the others ran to surround the two downed members, most of their faces confused since they didn't go too deep into Tony's personal life to remember the child most of them had met.

"Peter?" Rhodey dropped down and lifted his faceplate, going to kneel next to them. "What...? Why is- Peter is Spider-Man?"

Tony ignored him and gently slapped Peter's cheek, "Hey, buddy, c'mon, time to wakey wakey."

They all waited a moment with baited breath, but Peter didn't budge. "He should be awake by now. He dug a bullet out of his side before, he should be able to handle a little hit like this! Friday, run a scan and find out why he isn't waking up!"

"Who is that?" Sam asked quietly, leaning towards Steve.

"His son..." Steve had only met Peter a handful of times, but the boy was sweet and grew on people's hearts very easily. "I had no idea he was Spider-Man though..."

"That's his son and he let him come into battle like that?"

"Shut your mouth, Wilson, or I swear to God I will shut it for you." Tony lifted his head up to glare at the man.

Everyone fell back into silence at the sheer rage that bubbled up in Tony, none of them had ever seen a side like that before... Though none of them had ever seen Peter hurt with Tony around before either. It was quite terrifying to deal with a papa bear.

A small groan drew the attention -and wrath- away from Sam and the other rouges and back to the small teen as he started to stir.

"Peter? You waking up, kid?"

Slowly, Peter's eyes opened to look up at Tony's concerned face. "Dad...?" Peter glanced around and took in all the heroes looking at him. His hands immediately went to his face, grasping for his mask as he stared at his dad with wide eyes, a feeling of betrayal running through him as he realized that Tony must have taken his mask off.

"Mr. Stark...!" Peter yelled as he started to stumble to his feet, reaching for his mask.

"Don't you 'Mr. Stark' me, kiddo!" Tony stood up as well, holding Peter's shoulders firmly, though knowing that if the kid wanted to get away then Tony would be no obstacle for him. "You were unconscious! You didn't respond when I called you! Do you know how rare that is for you? To get hit hard enough that it sends you so far out of it like that? What even happened? Where's that Spidey-Sense of yours that's supposed to protect you from that?"

"I thought it was a false alarm so I ignored it!"

Tony blinked as he stared at his kid, his genius mind trying to comprehend the words that just came from Peter's mouth. He knew that this boy was a genius like him, he just knew it... "You... You thought it was a false alarm, so you ignored it? You ignored the fact that you're in the middle of a battle and in constant danger?" Tony looked down and laughed a bit, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're done."

Peter's eyes widened as he shook his head, "Mr. Stark, no! You can't do tha-"

"You're done or I tell your mom!"

The boy immediately shut up, his eyebrows furrowed in a pathetic attempt at a glare. He just looked like a sulking puppy in all honestly, but Tony would never say that out loud.

Peter's embarrassment grew as Scott cleared his throat, alerting him once again to the fact that all of his role models were watching him. He blushed darkly as he started to back away, but Tony's hand was still on his shoulder and keeping him in place.

"Don't try to run from this, you brought it on yourself," Tony smirked, something that Peter swore was evil. "Now who brought you here? Happy? Pepper? No, Pepper would never bring you here, she's too smart for that. It was definitely Happy."

"Um, excuse me," T'Challa interrupted, "Can you maybe do this another time? We are in the middle of a battle here."

All eyes went to the Wakandan king as he glanced towards Bucky, who didn't bother to take a defensive stance as he was still trying to understand how a kid was able to fight against him so easily.

Bucky hated the thought of a child soldier, but he had to admit that the kid had talent. With the right kind of teaching, he could be something special one day...

"We're done, too," Steve said, drawing the attention to himself. Cap had been watching how Tony was taking care of Peter as subtly as he could by holding him up or brushing his hand over Peter's back to get the dirt off and sooth the ache that must have been there (the way Peter relaxed into the touch was answer enough). Steve had seen Peter before, and he had seen Peter and Tony in a room together before, but the interaction was never like this... The man couldn't bear the thought of being the reason that one was without the other. "Tony, what are we doing? Fighting each other all out like this? We aren't enemies."

Tony raised an eyebrow at him but shrugged. "I'm doing everything I can to do the right thing now, Cap."

"So are we. Bucky's innocent, he was framed by that shrink; and now there are more like him in Siberia that we have to stop before that man gets there."

Tony scanned the faces of the ones around him, studying each one and trying to predict what their reactions would be. T'Challa wouldn't be happy, but he was a good man... The others would be relieved to stop fighting their friends.

"Alright, everyone, stand down. We're calling a truce." Tony announced, chuckling at the sighs of relief that he knew would come.

"We cannot give up yet!"

"Your Highness," Steve turned to the Black Panther, "Bucky didn't kill your father. But the man that did is about to unleash something unimaginable on us if we don't stop him first. Please, just let us show you."

T'Challa glared for a few minutes before giving in as well, nodding his affirmation. "Alright. But if you are wrong, Captain..."

"I'm not."

The two held their gazes, the tension almost visible. It was all broken by an awkward laugh.

"So... This is great. A truce is wonderful, and it wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't of gotten hurt, so I guess it's kinda my fault that all this greatness is happening now," Peter started trying to sneak off again, but both Tony and Rhodey fixed him with strong looks.

"No," Tony pointed a finger at him, "None of that 'I almost died but brought everyone back together' stuff. I will not let you pull this kind of stunt off."

"You are not getting off the hook any time soon." Rhodey crossed his arms and shook his head, "If your mother finds out about this, she's going to kill every one of us. We are so not letting you get away with turning this into a good thing."

Peter gulped as he realized that he wasn't getting out of trouble any time soon and that now was time for all the superheroes to give him a piece of their minds.

"You are grounded for the rest of eternity."

A groan left him as he listened to the numerous rants all at once but a bunch of people he looked up to but didn't really know. This was going to be a long evening.

 **A/N: Wow... this took a long time to get out... Sorry 'bout that, I've been going through what I call Writing Depression lately. I know what I want to write, I know where I want the story to go, but I have no motivation to do so. It's like writer's block but without the block. Hopefully, it'll get better soon lol :') I have two more chapters that are almost completely written out, just needs the ending and it'll be done. So unless anyone has any more ideas, this story only has two chapters left...**


	7. Chapter 7

It started out as an off day for Peter... He slept through his alarm, he slept through _Friday's_ alarm, he didn't have time to eat breakfast, and even with Happy's driving, he missed the first five minutes of his calculus class. Not to mention the dull pain in his lower stomach that was growing stronger throughout the day, and his Spidey-Sense that was going off at every little thing.

"You don't look so good, dude..." Ned whispered to him during class.

"Thanks." Peter tried to ignore him and focus on the teacher, blocking out his pain that Ned kept pointing out.

"Are you sure you should be here today?"

"Ned, please... We'll talk about this at lunch, okay?"

His friend nodded as he sat back up in his chair and gave most of his attention to the teacher, but Peter could still feel his gaze now and then.

For the rest of their shared classes, Ned continued to watch Peter in worry, and it wasn't that Peter didn't appreciate his friend's care... he just couldn't deal with it now. The pain was giving him enough to think about without Ned's questions. So after AP History -one of the few classes they didn't share- instead of heading to the lunch room, Peter went to hide in the bathroom. He'd regret not eating later, probably when he was on the verge of crashing because of his metabolism, but he just needed a break now.

He went into a stall and sat on the closed lid of the toilet, just taking a deep breath to try and make the pain go away.

It didn't.

He must have lost track of time in there because Happy was suddenly texting him and asking where he was - as well as the twenty-plus messages from Ned. Was it two forty-five already? He sent back a short text as he stood up, noticing his right leg was stiff. He wrote it off as sitting in the same position for too long and that it would go away soon.

He tried walking it off, but now he was hurting more and adding to the new sensation of nausea that was hitting him. He couldn't wait until he was able to lay in bed and go to sleep...

"Peter, there you are!"

Peter looked up and saw Ned running towards him in the hall with a slightly panicked look. "Where have you been? You missed the rest of school! I was so worried about you, I thought something bad happened because you looked so sick before! Nothing much has changed now either!"

"Sorry, Ned..." Peter offered a small smile to calm him, "I went to the bathroom for some quiet time but I guess I didn't notice how much time passed."

"I kept texting you thinking that a _thing_ came up but you never answered!"

"I'm sorry." He grunted as someone shoved into him and nearly sent him to his knees as the jarring movement made his side hurt even more. He looked up to see Flash's smirk as he walked down the hall. If only... if only...

"We should get you to Happy, I saw him waiting for you outside earlier."

Peter nodded slightly, his body hunching over as he started to slowly walk to the exit, avoiding as many people as possible -not an easy feat when there were so many teenagers trying to get out of the school at once.

Happy was leaning against his car, waiting for the late arrival of the kid. He took one look at Peter when he finally saw them coming out of the building and frowned. "You okay, kid?"

"I'll be fine once I get home." Peter barely looked at the driver as he opened the back door and crawled in. He didn't bother with his seatbelt as he laid down, hoping to ease some of the pain that was moving from his stomach to his side. It didn't do much, but it did help him calm the nausea, so that was a plus.

Peter must have fallen asleep at some point because the next thing he knew, he was at the tower with Happy gently shaking his shoulder.

"Kid, time to get up." Happy's eyes took in the flushed face and far out look in Peter's eyes, slowly taking a step towards the building, "Do you want me to get Cap out here to carry you to bed? You don't look too good."

"No..." Peter got out of the car, his body leaning forward slightly to ease his pain. "No, I'm fine. I just need to go and finish my homework then I'll go to bed."

Happy didn't look too happy as he put a hand to Peter's forehead. "You're starting to get a fever. I think you can skip the homework tonight, kid."

"No, I've got an essay in AP History I need to work on. I'll be fine."

Happy -while still not completely convinced- nodded as he walked with the boy inside.

Peter really wanted to go to his room to work, the short walk to his bed when he finished would have been wonderful. But he didn't trust himself to finish his work with his bed right there... So instead, he headed to his dad's lab. Besides, it would be nice and quiet in there while Tony was away meeting the president.

So Peter was a little more than shocked when he heard the rock music coming from the lab.

"Dad?" Peter placed his hand on the security scanner and stepped inside as the door opened. He looked around the lab, slinging his backpack onto his appointed desk just as Tony stepped out from behind a bookshelf.

"Hey, Pete, what are you doing here?" He asked as he set a file down on the same desk as Peter.

"Homework. I thought you were out of town still?"

"Got back earlier than expected, decided to work on a few things." He sent a wink to Peter, the boy frowning slightly because he knew that meant Tony was working on this super secret project just for him but he couldn't know anything about it... "But if you want to keep your very cool and genius dad company while we work, go right ahead."

Peter shook his head slightly, going to sit at his workbench while trying to suppress his sigh of relief. The pain built more the longer he stood up...

The thought that something might be seriously wrong crossed his mind, but he wrote it off as nothing. It was just a bad stomach ache with a slight fever, nothing to be too concerned over.

If it was something serious then he would probably be in so much trouble later for hiding it, a part of his brain whispered. Peter had been lectured so many times when it came to hiding injuries... But he wasn't hiding this, he was simply not telling anyone about it. Big difference.

Tony noticed that there was something off about his son today. He glanced at him now and then to see if any color had come back to his face, or if his body would relax out of the tensed hunch that was almost a constant thing since he entered the labs. Nothing changed. He couldn't see anything worsening though, so he just let it be for now.

He should probably be more concerned, but his current project wouldn't release its hold on him. It was going to be a gift for Peter's sixteenth birthday, a new suit that was bigger and better than the last. The boy deserved it after everything he had done in the last few months, proving himself to be an amazing hero.

"Dad..." Peter's weak and quivering voice caught Tony's attention as he looked up from his workbench. His skin was paler than before with a thin sheen of sweat beading across his forehead, he was holding his side as he stood up and wobbled forward. "I don't feel so good."

"Peter?" Tony stood up, rushing forward to catch his son as the boy's legs gave out on him and sent him crashing towards the floor just as Tony's arms wrapped around him.

"I don't know- I don't know what's happening..." His arms clutched tightly around Tony, a broken sob of pain escaping him.

Ever since Tony found out about Spider-Man being his son, and even a few instances before then, he went through many sleepless nights and troubled mornings because of him. Tony was sure that the few gray hairs he had were from the kid solely. But nothing - _nothing_ \- in all the eleven years he's known Peter could ever compare to the raw terror he was feeling now.

"Peter, it's going to be okay," Tony pulled him close to his chest and rubbed his back softly. "Friday, call the med-bay and get them down here now -tell them to bring a stretcher!"

Peter's whimpering form was starting to go quiet, his body stilling as Tony slowly lowered him against the floor. He stared blankly at the ceiling, his breathing calming down and turning shallow.

"Peter, I need you to talk to me. Where does it hurt?"

"I'm sorry..." His gaze slowly drifted over to Tony, his eyes wide but glazed over.

"You're alright," Tony placed his hand on Peter's cheek, his thumb stroking just below his eye. "You're going to be okay. Just stay with me now, you're going to be alright."

Peter took in how worried and... and scared his dad looked. Of all the times that Tony had been around when he was wounded, he never looked at Peter with this kind of open emotion on his face. He really should have spoken up about this pain before. Now it was causing trouble to those around him...

A noise drew his attention off to the side, seeing the medics come in with the stretcher. That meant relief... the medics were going to help him and make the pain go away and make people stop worrying about him. Tony was saying something to him but he couldn't make it out because all he could think about was how they were going to stop the harsh pain in his side.

"Peter!" Tony shook the boy slightly when his eyes slipped closed, panic unlike any other settling in. He cursed himself for not being more concerned when he first saw how bad the boy looked, for being so preoccupied with the Iron Spider suit, for not being a good dad... Ten years and he was still doubting himself - with good reason! He just ignored the fact that his son was sick in order to further his project! Mary was going to kill him...

"Sir, we need to put him on the stretcher," One of the paramedics said as she placed a hand on Tony's shoulder and gently guided him out of the way so that her companions could move the boy.

"Will he be okay?"

"We don't know yet, please give us time."

Tony hated that answer but didn't say anything else as he followed close behind them to the med-bay. He trusted the doctors that he employed, but he would give anything to get Bruce to look Peter over...

He paced outside the operating room, his mind too busy playing the blame game to acknowledge the other Avengers starting to fill the area. There were so many things he could have done differently... How long had Peter been sick? If Tony had come home sooner, would he have been able to call this out sooner and do something about it?

"Mr. Stark?" The doctor stepped out an hour later, grabbing the attention of the present Avengers. "Peter is going to be fine now."

Tony leaned back against the wall, his body sagging with relief. "Thank God... What the hell happened to him?"

"His appendix ruptured," The doc cleared his throat as he looked down. "We saved your son's life today; his organs were already turning gangrene, we had to take the contaminated ones out and wash them."

Tony's body froze as he heard some of the others take in a surprised breath. No one had ever really given it much thought before... but appendicitis is a thing that exists. It existed and people could die from it...

"Can I see him? Is he awake?"

The doctor stepped aside to allow only Tony into the Spider-Room(as they called Peter's private med-bay room), the man nearly stopping himself from breaking out into a run to see how his son was doing.

The boy was awake in his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Tony hesitated with his head peeking through the door before knocking gently against the wood. Peter turned his head, a small and weak smile spreading across his face.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself, slugger." Tony sat on the edge of Peter's bed, his eyes scanning over the teen. He still looked like crap, but not as bad as before. So that was a good thing. Hopefully. He should probably take a medical class at some point. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I was just taken apart, run over with a bus, then put back together."

Tony chuckled and nodded a bit, "Yeah, that's about how it went."

Peter's face morphed into a look of horror as he looked down at himself, Tony unable to hold back the laugh as he reached over to place a hand on Peter's head.

"Calm down, you didn't really get run over."

Peter let out a breath of relief as Tony ruffled his hair, slowly moving closer to the boy and gently guiding Peter's forehead to lean against Tony's shoulder. The older man closed his eyes as he felt his son breathing.

"Don't do this to me again. Next time you feel any kind of pain or if anything doesn't feel right at all, you tell me. Understand?"

Peter nodded a bit as he brought his arms up to hug Tony, "Yes, sir."

He held Peter there for a minute longer than he was normally comfortable with, but Tony thought that this would be a good situation to bask in the fact that his amazing son was still alive. He could handle a little prolonged human contact for that.

The cold in the room felt harsher to both of them as they separated, Tony standing up. "The others are outside, feeling up for some company?"

The boy's eyes lit up as he nodded, his inner fanboy always present when it came to spending time with the Avengers. Tony couldn't help but roll his eyes as he went to the door. His son was a nerd.

 **A/N: I spent over $200 on almost all of the Avenger movies. I normally just rent the movies on YouTube or something and buy my absolute favorites on DVD, but a family member moved in with me that's been wanting to get into the fandom and I'm not one to disappoint... It's taken a while to finish the Avenger marathon, but I've finally gotten her emotionally attached to all the characters now.**

 **Today we're watching Infinity War.**


	8. Chapter 8

"Oh, my God..."

The last ten hours for Peter were kind of like hell.

There was screaming, cursing, lots of pain to go around, more screaming, quite a bit of panic on his end, and so much sensory overload that he had to suffer through. Not to mention his parents and all of the Avengers (along with their respective families) were around to watch as well.

"Oh, Peter..." Mary stared straight ahead, tears falling down her cheeks as she clung to her husband's arm. "Peter, this is... I have no words for any of this..."

Peter rubbed the back of his neck as he chuckled slightly, "I know, I'm still trying to take this all in as well... I had so many months to prepare, but now... Wow. He's beautiful."

Mary nodding in agreement as she placed one hand on the glass, smiling down at the newborn baby sleeping in his crib. "Just like his mother."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Peter smiled. "Though MJ says that he has my eyes."

"A little revenge, finally." Tony muttered, causing a few of the nearby Avengers to chuckle, knowing exactly what he was talking about."

"What?" Peter tilted his head slightly, his large brown eyes showing his confusion.

"Those damn eyes of yours are the reason you grew up so spoiled," Tony smirked, "No one could ever tell you no. You shall now know how we all felt; you know what they say about karma."

Peter thought about it for a second before smiling, "I wouldn't mind. Even without the eyes, I'd probably still spoil him."

"You're gonna be one of those parents, huh?" Nat smiled and ruffled Peter's hair, the young man chuckled as he looked at his heroes and friends. They all were watching him or his new son with fond expressions, making a warm feeling buzz in Peter's chest. His family really was great... and it was all because of Tony that he had them.

The new father glanced towards his own dad, his lips twitching upward as he listened to him and Mary coo over the newest Stark.

If it hadn't been for Tony, then Peter would have never gained such an amazing family with the Avengers or possibly even become Spider-Man. If it hadn't been for Tony, Peter's life would have been so much different. As a child, Peter had been so starved for a male role model that he often dreamed of having Tony, Bruce, and other famous geniuses as dads. His dream seemed to have come true, Tony Stark was his dad, his uncle was Bruce Banner, he was able to hang out with some of the greatest minds in current times because of the power that both men had...

His dream had come true. It was real. He could wake up in the morning and smile because all of this was reality.

A rough hand clasped his shoulder as Tony looked at his grandson, "You did a great job with this one."

"Thanks, dad." Peter moved his hand up to hold onto Tony's shoulder as well, chuckling a bit as he watched his son yawn.

"We have to go now," Clint informed as he wrapped an arm around his wife, their kids still gazing at the babies with their faces pressed against the glass. "Congratulations, Peter. Your son's beautiful."

"Thanks, Mr. Barton. I'm glad that you could make it." Peter shook the archer's free hand as Laura called her children to them. The others started to leave as well, handing their gifts and balloons to Peter. Soon it was just the Starks standing in the hall.

"I can't believe that I'm already a grandma," Mary commented with a smile, "I'm too young for this, Peter...!"

"Sorry, mom." The man leaned over to kiss his mother's cheek. "You wear the title of grandma very well if that makes you feel better."

"You are such a flatterer, just like your dad."

The two men smiled at each other as Mary adjusted her purse and bid them goodbye as she went to visit with MJ, leaving the two men alone.

"Hey, dad..."

Tony looked away from the baby to Peter, an eyebrow raised curiously at his son's quiet voice. "Yeah?"

Peter looked down at his feet, shuffling a bit as he struggled to find the right words. "Um... Well... I-I just wanted to..." He took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders back as he looked at Tony. "Thank you - for everything you did for me as a kid and growing up. Thank you for taking care of me and mom; for letting me go to the movies with you and mom when we first met; for staying up with me all night when I had nightmares as a child; for saving me from Obidiah; for taking me to school when mom and Happy couldn't; for catching me when I fell from Stark Tower during the Battle of New York; for everything you've done for me involving Spider-Man..." Peter swallowed thickly as he glanced away, "I hope that I'm at least half the dad that you didn't have to be."

It was quiet for a second or two, both men taking in what was just said as the words hung in the air. After all this time, Tony still wasn't the best when it came to emotions, but he couldn't help the wetness he felt in his eyes. He looked away and quickly brushed his arm across his face before grabbing Peter's shoulder and pulling him into a hug.

"I hope that you're not half as good as me," Tony whispered. "I hope that you're better. I know that you're going to be better. I was a horrible dad, there were so many things I did wrong... So many things I could have done differently but was still locked on the way my parents acted. But you're going to be so much better than me, you're going to be an amazing dad that will be a hero to your son."

Peter's grip on Tony's jacket tightened slightly, his breath shaky as he tried to control his own emotions. It wasn't every day that both men bared their souls like this and it would take a few extra seconds to keep from crying in the hallway; men -especially superheroes- weren't supposed to cry.

"And in those times when you don't know what to do," Tony continued, "just ask MJ; she always knows what to do."

Peter laughed a bit, nodding his head in agreement. "Yeah, she's great like that."

Tony glanced behind Peter, seeing one of the nurses pick up his grandson and carry him out of the room. Tony smiled back at his son and patted his shoulder, "Speaking of great, let's go see this new family of yours. I want to hold my grandson and get a headstart on spoiling him."

Peter laughed more as he started walking back to Michelle's room, Tony in tow as they talked about the things they could build to spoiled the newest Stark. Peter knew for a fact that MJ wouldn't want her son dressed in a mini-Iron Man suit for protection, but didn't object to the idea of a giant plastic bubble...

 **A/N: So, my niece kinda hates me. She still loves this fandom, but she can't talk about any of the characters that were involved in those ending scenes. Even when they're in other movies! I'm watching In The Heart Of The Sea today and she can't look at the cover of the movie without holding back tears("Poor Thor and Peter! I feel so bad for them!"). I almost feel bad for recording her reactions while watching the movie.**

 **This is the LAST chapter for this story... I'm kinda sad about it... I started to write chapters for Homecoming and Infinity War, but Tony and Peter were already acting like father and son enough there and I ended up basically copying all the scenes... Oops? The last chapter is the only good thing that came out of the IW idea. Everything just came out too sad where I couldn't bear to even finish writing it... Plus the fact that I would need to wait until Avengers 4 came out to write the next chapter lol. I don't think anyone would have wanted that.**

 **Thank you to everyone that read and favorited and reviewed this story, it means so much to me and makes me so happy (especially reading the reviews CX). If you liked this story, there's a poll on my profile for my next Marvel story. There's no promises for when the next story will be posted; I really need to start studying since my college semester starts in January and I'm starting testing in October. But I will do my best.**

 **Thank you all so much once again. I hope to see you in my next story. 3**

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"Hey, MJ?" Peter called, glancing around his living room with furrowed brows.

"What?"

"Where's Ed?"

There was silence for a moment before MJ walked into the living room with her husband and put a hand on her hip. "You lost him?"

Peter gulped as he held his hands up, "I looked away for a second! He's just learning to crawl, he shouldn't be that fast!"

"He's a Stark," Michelle sighed, "you of all people should know to never underestimate a Stark!"

Peter opened his mouth to argue back when a small coo caught his attention. His eyes widened as he looked to his wife, her face equally as panicked as they both looked up at the ceiling. There was their young son, hanging upside down from the ceiling, working his way over to the large windows.

"Edward!" Peter shouted, his heart beating faster than it should as he jumped into the air, holding onto the roof with one hand as he plucked his child up(down?) with his other.

"This is all on you!" MJ frowned, "Of course out son has your weird spider abilities!"

The older enhanced male dropped back down while holding Ed, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry? I didn't know that they could be hereditary."

Michelle sighed again as they both looked down at their son, who simply giggled back without a care in the world. This would definitely be an interesting parenthood.


End file.
